1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to window curtains or drapes generally known as Roman style shades and more particularly to a flexible fabric curtain or drape depending from a support bar attached to a window head and friction reducing pull cord supporting members for raising and lowering the drape.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been the general practice to support the pull cords for Roman style drapes by passing them through eye screws secured to a drapery support bar secured to a window head. One end of the cords being attached to the depending edge portion of the drape and extended upwardly in a vertical path. Each vertical path of the cord being defined by a plurality of vertically spaced eyelets or rings secured to the back side of the drape through which the individual cords pass thus generating a substantially 90.degree. bend in the cord as it moves from its vertical path into a horizontal path through the eye screw toward one side of the drape where all cords must also pass as a unit through another eye screw secured to the support bar in a right angular turn in response to a downward pull on the cords when lifting a drape. The resulting friction against the eye screws rapidly wears out the pull cords necessitating their replacement. This frictional wear has been alleviated to some extent by using pull cords formed from synthetic material, such as that generally known under the tradename Nylon, however, this frictional wear also shortens the expected life span of synthetic cords.
Some patents, as shown by the prior art, have attempted to reduce the friction wear on the cords and decrease the force needed to lift the drape by providing pull cord supporting pulleys, such as disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,478,805 and 3,593,772, or the use of rollers, as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,788. However, the use of rollers or pulleys have usually resulted in the cords, when in a slackened state, comming off the pulley or roller and being disposed between one end of the roller and its support sometimes resulting in a binding action in which the cord cannot be moved in either direction and which consequently quickly wears the cord if the tolerance is such that the cord may be pulled. This disadvantage is particularly evident when using small diameter synthetic cord material.
This invention overcomes the above objections of eye screws and conventional pulleys or rollers attached to a drapery support bar by providing a friction reducing pulley support which maintains the respective pull cord or collected cords properly entrained over the respective pulley.